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Riverside Rides Again — at SpeedwayXPO 2009
Hard to believe, but the final race at Riverside Park Speedway took
place nine years ago this fall. So to commemorate the 10th
anniversary of the closing of the Park—after 50 glorious years of
racing, “Riverside Rides Again,” the Riverside Park Speedway
Reunion, will be hosted by SpeedwayXPO 2009.
Riverside Rides Again will feature fascinating displays dedicated to
the proud history of Riverside Park Speedway, complete with restored
race cars from every era, photographs, videos, memorabilia and many
of the people who raced there. There will be a host of Riverside
events throughout XPO weekend, including autograph sessions and a
whole lot of bench racing.
FULL
STORY & RIVERSIDE PHOTOS HERE |
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Six
Modified Teams Test
Bristol’s High Banks |
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Test
Held In Preparation For August Race Date |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 24, 2009) – The NASCAR Modifieds took to the
track at Bristol Motor Speedway for the first time Tuesday as part of a
test session.
Bristol, the “World’s Fastest Half Mile,” will welcome the NASCAR Whelen
Modified and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tours for the first time in
a combination race on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Tuesday provided Hoosier Tire,
NASCAR and the test teams their first opportunity to see how the
open-wheeled race cars performed on the concrete .533-mile oval in
Tennessee.
“We came here this morning not sure how we were going to need to
approach this [racing at Bristol],” said L.W. Miller, driver of the No.
36 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour car. “I was real comfortable
this morning. I feel that we’ve run enough today to come back [in
August] and be on the right track.”
Todd Szegedy, driver of the No. 2 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car, was
also impressed with how quickly he was able to adapt to the circuit,
even in near-freezing temperatures to start the day.
“When it’s really cold temperatures, the tires have a tough time heating
up,” Szegedy said. “When I got out on the track, it felt like I could
just go right away. There’s a lot of grip in the track for sure, and a
lot of g-forces.”
In addition to Miller and Szegedy, four other drivers also tested
Bristol on Tuesday. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour veterans Ted
Christopher, Matt Hirschman and Ron Silk turned laps as well as Brian
Loftin from the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
To start the day, all six cars employed the same restrictor plate that
is used annually at the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s two events at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway. In the morning session, Szegedy paced the
field with a fast lap of 15.022 seconds (127.733 mph).
The afternoon session proved to be significantly faster for all involved
as the temperature warmed. As of mid-afternoon, Miller topped the charts
at 14.742 seconds (130.159 mph.), well under the current NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series track qualifying record of 14.908 seconds (128.709) set by
Ryan Newman in 2003. In fact, Christopher (14.805), Silk (14.818),
Szegedy (14.869) and Hirschman (14.894) had all exceeded Newman’s mark.
The 150-lap combination Modified race at Bristol is scheduled to start
at 6 p.m. on Aug. 19.
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